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Necropolis
The Necropolis is a highly unusual, semi-''Codex'' Compliant Chapter of Space Marines. They are believed to hail from the lineage of the shadowed Raven Guard Chapter of Astartes, although they have semi-control of their Betcher's Gland, which may indicate otherwise. They are obsessed with death in all its myriad forms and go so far as to include it in all of their rituals. It is even rumored, correctly, that they are actually killed during their final initiation trials before they become fully-fledged Astartes, and then are expected to either rise once again, or die for their last time. They hail from the Night World of Mors aeterna, which translates into the Low-Gothic term of 'Eternal Death'. The people on Mors aeterna are able to maintain some semblance of a civilized culture, but only barely, and they are constantly driven to the extremes by their world, such as the harvesting of human bodies for resources. It is this world that has shaped The Necropolis and it is perhaps this world that has given them their gene-seed flaws. As of late, the Chapter has been caught up rebuilding after the Third War for Armageddon and the Thirteenth Black Crusade. In a matter of months they lost nearly half of their Chapter to the Orks and powers of Chaos and their recovery is prolonged by a seeming rejection of Primaris Marines. History Founding It is unknown exactly what time the Necropolis was founded, though most agree that it was during the mid-34th Millennium. They were supposedly created from the Raven Guard's gene-seed as both exhibit similar mutations, though the Necropolis still has partial control of their Betcher's Gland, whereas the Raven Guard do not. And though the Necropolis claims the Raven Guard as their gene-sires, the Raven Guard do not officially claim them, perhaps because they are so deviant from their own culture. What is known is that their first Dominus autem mors (Chapter Master, translates to 'Lord of Death) was Gornvek, a warrior from an unknown Chapter that was selected to lead the Necropolis. He was pale, had jet-black hair, and his pupils were completely black, and large to the point that they covered nearly all of his eyes. This meant he usually wore a helmet to keep his eyes from being damaged by light. Upon the request of Gornvek, the Chapter was given the world of Mors aeterna to recruit from, a highly unusual choice, given that its population was ridden with bone diseases due to their being no natural light on the world. The few warriors of the Necropolis landed on the planet and disappeared for nearly twenty standard years, presumably to build their fortress and indoctrinate the culture into giving recruits. When the Chapter emerged from the planet's surface after twenty years, they stood at nearly a full company of untrained Scouts, or as they call them, 'Blinded'. Over the next several years, the Necropolis launched a multitude of raids into a nearby Ork-held planet, known as Bekonin. They bloodied themselves against the Orks, learning the tactics that would come to define them. Terror Raids sent Ork camps against one-another, believing the other had attacked it. Soon they began to realise they had visitors and they became afraid, not of merely dying, but of dying helplessly. After the raids had created several squads of Astartes, the Necropolis launched several large attacks into the Orks, coming from the shadows, silently marching onwards, like the legions of dead from many a mythical tale. The Orks began to panic in a way, believing every shadow was an enemy, and in two years the planet was in chaos, leaving the Necropolis with nearly one-hundred and fifty Astartes to take the system. The Shadowed Ones During 681.M34 the Necropolis engaged a fleet of unknown xenos raiders known only as the 'Shadowed Ones'. They were able to infiltrate several systems near the Necropolis' homeworld of Mors aeterna and mysteriously vanish into the void after spreading terror throughout the planets. Taking upon themselves to stop these raids, Dominus autem mors Gornvek took the newly founded 1st, 2nd, and 8th Cemeteries (Companies) into battle against the xenos. They made use of a technology known as Reflex Shielding, albeit a primitive version of it. Reflex Shielding was created by the forges of Kiavahr for the Raven Guard. The technology is so rare in the present time, that only a select few ships in the Imperium have it equipped. For the Necropolis, only their 'Phantom' Class of escorts and their single Battle Barge, the Bloodied Dark, have this ancient technology equipped. For six years the Necropolis fleet engaged the Shadowed Ones', forcing them to an old star that blasted the surrounding area with radiation. In this system the Shadowed Ones' cloaking technology was rendered ineffective by the radiation and finally the Necropolis was able to engage them with the bulk of their fleet. The Bloodied Dark and the 2nd Cemetery's Strike Cruiser Est tenebris led the charge, smashing into the Shadowed Ones' fleet. They boarded their flagship and a vicious battle ensued for the vessel. Meanwhile, the five Phantom Class vessels of the 8th Cemetery destroyed any stragglers and ensured that no vessel escaped their trap. On the command ship, the Shadowed Ones' were putting up stiff resistance to the Necropolis, but they quickly found themselves facing the masters of the night inside their pitch-black corridors. The Necropolis spread throughout the ship, leaping from every corner at the Shadowed Ones', picking them off one by one, their hellish shrieks sounding throughout the vessel, amplified by the psychic power of Necromancer (Librarian) Has'Gak. It was not long before Dominus autem mors Gornvek made it to the bridge of the vessel alongside his Night Stalkers (Honor Guard). They gave battle to the Shadowed Ones' commander and his retinue. When all seemed lost for the Shadowed Ones', they revealed their trap. Their warrior caste of long, spindly creatures folded from the dark, ambushing the Necropolis in their own domain. Corridors suddenly lit with bolter fire as several Space Marines were killed and the rest retaliated, but to no avail, as the bolt shells simply passed through the warriors, only slowing them down. On the bridge, the warrior caste manifested themselves as well, forcing the Night Stalkers on the defensive. Brother Vedi'Noran was killed in an instant and his body drug away into the darkest corners of the room, never seen again. Brother Stioux lost his arm at the elbow when a warrior bit it off and he was forced to drop his executioner's axe and wield his sickle to defend himself. And Gornvek was finally able to overpower the Shadowed Ones' leader, and cleanly sliced his head from his shoulders with his ancient scythe. At once, the warriors vanished and the Necropolis was left to vent their full fury on the Shadowed Ones', and for two days the ship was never quiet for more than a few seconds as they died, screeching in their alien language for mercy. But the dead gave no such thing. Necromancer Has'Gak was able to determine after the warriors had gone, that they were the negative emotions of the Shadowed Ones'. They had mastered them and used them against the Necropolis. In essence, they had used their darkness, to nearly defeat the dark. After the battle was won, the Necropolis had suffered greatly. Twenty-eight brothers had died for the last time, and finally they could rest. After this, the Necropolis sunk deeper into their dark planet, striving to become even more the master of dark and death than they already were. It was during this time that they first used their ritual of being killed before being accepted as one of the Necropolis. Timeline Homeworld The Necropolis' homeworld of Mors aeterna is a night-shrouded planet, its location unknown to most. When it was first colonized by man, it was a beautiful world, where life was easy. But then, volcanoes erupted simultaneously across the planet, turning it to perpetual darkness. Its people now live in small communities near the volcanoes where life is hard-scrabble, and consists of constantly forging for food, resources, and burning materiel. Fire and light are an important resource on the planet, for without it, the creatures that live beyond the light would come and kill them. As such, each person must constantly forage for supplies in order to survive. Natural resources are in very scarce supply. Wood, plant life, food, water, all are constantly fought over. Due to this, any animal that is killed is stripped for resources. Its blood is drank, its meat ate, its bones are used as weapons and burning materiel, its pelts are used as clothes and tents. The same goes for the people when they die. When one family's parents die, they gain rights to their bodies and any resources they had saved up. They drink their blood, eat their meat, use their bones as tools, teeth as weapon points, stomachs as water and blood sacks; everything is used with nothing wasted. If a family lets its fire go out, they will die. With no light for a few hours, small insect-like creatures will invade the home, devouring its inhabitants. No one can spare many, if any fire materiel and it is hard to find those resources. If this happens and the couple has no family alive, drawings are made to see which family in the village takes the resources. Otherwise, the parents receive them, so in a way, the children give back to the parents. The Necropolis and Their Homeworld The people on Mors aeterna know of the Necropolis, but not of what they are. They know that somewhere outside of the villages there is a city of the dead, where the specially chosen go to. This city protects them from threats outside of the night, meaning from off-planet. Some have claimed to have seen the city's inhabitants in their peripherals, lurking outside of the villages. But when one looks directly on these moving shadows, they disappear, as if driven away by their gaze. While the people hold these so called 'Honored Dead' in reverence, they also fear them. Parents constantly tell their kids to not venture out into the dark without fire. They tell them they will either die out there, or they will return, blinded by the night, only to be taken away to the 'Mortuus est usus' where they will die anyway. This cycle of fear, reverence, and ignorance has led to the populace only knowing the Necropolis as legends, beings that no one can truly explain, but that definitely exists. Gene-Seed The gene-seed of the Necropolis is believed to have come from the Raven Guard, however mutations have called this into question. One mutation is that the Necropolis apparently have regained at least partial use of their Betcher's Gland. They are not able to spit acid, due to the gland not being able to release the acid into saliva. Instead, they are able to 'blow' it out in an acidic cloud. This is referred to as the 'Breath of the Dead'. Another two mutations in the Astartes' Haemastamen and Sus-an Membrane allow the brothers to store energy and render themselves almost undetectable to bio-scanners. The Haemastamen is able to carry oxygen far more efficiently than even a normal Astartes, allowing them to 'store' energy in their bodies and allowing their organs to work slower, by way of the Sus-an Membrane; this mutation lets the Astartes partially shut down their organs into a partially asleep state. Though they move far slower than normal Astartes, they are capable of moving virtually undetected by scanners and are capable of releasing their stored energy in massive bursts of speed and agility for short periods. This has been called the 'Death's March' mutations and strikes fear into the foe. To see such slow moving creatures of death march from seemingly nowhere is terrifying enough, but when they suddenly move faster than the eye can see, that is when most break. A third is the so-called 'Waking Dead' mutation. It was first discovered by the Mechanicus when Belisarius Cawl attempted to create Primaris Marines from the Necropolis. He discovered a small psychic signature within the gene-seed samples. When several psykers investigated, they went mad, screaming of visions of death and destruction on an unimaginable scale. After these were put down, a more powerful psyker by the name of Augustus Menizar attempted to delve into this signature. He was able to retain his sanity for several minutes, and during that time he relayed the signature was a form of ward, designed to deter any invaders into the gene-seed that did not have the proper rituals to gain access. It hid something deep inside that gene-seed, but he could not get through, nor tell who had created the ward. After Augustus was euthanized, Cawl attempted to examine the gene-seed further, but found that the ward killed off any samples he delved too deep into. This meant he could not produce Primaris Marines and he remains unable to do so to this day. The ward hides the mutation, which was purposefully implanted in order to create the ritual where one Neophyte is killed and then brought back from the dead to become a Necropolis Brother. The ward hides the other psychic implant that brings the Neophyte back from the dead if his soul is worthy enough to fight back from the warp. Fleet The Necropolis maintains a roughly average-sized fleet of vessels. Each Cemetery, excluding the First, Eighth and Tenth, maintains one Strike Cruiser and however many Escorts they see fit. The First Cemetery protects the Necropolis' sole Battle Barge, the Bloodied Dark. The Eighth Cemetery is equipped with several Phantom-Class Escorts. The Tenth has no designated vessels and instead relies upon the other Cemeteries to ferry them from place-to-place. Classes of Ships Battle Barge The Necropolis only maintains a single Battle Barge, named the Bloodied Dark. The vessel's origins are unknown, but it is very likely that it was passed down from their Raven Guard progenitors, due to its being equipped with Reflex Shields. Its appearance in a system is a forewarning of death, destruction, and terror on a wide scale. When it appears on the local scanners of an Imperial System, its people know they have sinned and do their utmost to repent, even if they do not know what they have done. Strike Cruisers Escorts Phantom-Class Escorts Organization Hierarchy The Necropolis maintains a slightly different command hierarchy than most Codex-Chapters. They have different names for all of their ranks and some departments are far more powerful than others. The naming structure for their hierarchy is highly ritualised and based on the culture of the people of Mors aeterna. Cemeteries The Necropolis is mostly organized along the same lines as the Codex dictates, with several changes. Mostly they are name changes that reflect the culture of the people of Mors aeterna, but there are other, more significant changes. Tombs The Necropolis maintains the same Squads as the Codex dictates, however, they not only refer to them as Tombs, but also name them differently. The different Tomb designations are listed below; * Elder Tomb- The Elder Tombs are the equivalent of Elder Squads in a Codex-Compliant Chapter. Each one is made up of veterans of countless battles and they truly live up to the name of Elder; their flesh is decayed and rotted and they give off a putrid smell. This smell is often the first sigh that one will get to know they are near and possibly the only one. * Cadaver Tomb- These are those of the Tactical Squads, so named for their simplicity and flexibility. They are used for many tasks, non-specialized, the perfect all-round unit. Cadaver simply means a corpse and a corpse can be of many different types based on species, age, size, shape. For the Necropolis, Cadaver means flexibility, the flexibility to take on any foe and strike fear into anyone and anything. * Ghoul Tombs- Ghoul Tombs are the Devastator Squads of the Necropolis. They are generally armed with great variety, depending on the task they are needed for. For example, if they are to be used in a terror raid from close-quarters, then they are armed with flame weapons, the ultimate weapon of terror. They are more mobile than most other Devastators and circle their larger prey, firing on it from all angles, their Las-Beams and missile trails emerging from the shadows to strike before they fade. * Wraith Tombs- The Wraiths are the Assault Marines, closing to close quarters with incredible silence before delivering their blow, causing terror and panic as their chainswords slice through the air. The high-pitch roar of their swords is the only warning the enemy will have before these murderous Marines are upon them, the shock caused enough to scatter most. They are truly ruthless, never leaving a single survivor in their raids, choosing to hunt down and kill their weary prey before moving on to find more victims. * Vulture Tombs- The Vultures are the Scouts of the Necropolis, stalking the prey of the dead and picking at them constantly. They provide information to the commanders of the strike force and conduct raids on them to test their strength and find their weaknesses. They are all armed with silenced weapons, primarily Sniper Rifles to eliminate the prey both at range and quietly. However, they often are tasked with taking flaying knives and silenced Bolt Pistols to close range in order to drive fear and confusion home in an enemy. They wear fearsome skull-helmets into battle, to hide their as yet un-rotted and relatively healthy, albeit pale and hollow faces from their foe, as fear is the cornerstone of many Necropolis tactics. The Mortuus Elder Cemetery * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- Battle Barge Bloodied Dark, ''Reaper Squadron * Tombs- 20 Elder Tombs * Notes- The '''Fathers of the Damned Cemetery' * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- Strike Cruiser Infinite Death, Atrapos Squadron * Tombs- 6 Cadaver Tombs, 2 Ghoul Tombs, 2 Wraith Tombs * Notes- The Ghosts of Tyros Cemetery * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- Strike Cruiser Horse of Tyros, Voldias Squadron * Tombs- 6 Cadaver Tombs, 2 Ghoul Tombs, 2 Wraith Tombs * Notes- The Void Crows Cemetery * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- Battle Barge Bloodied Dark, Reaper Squadron * Tombs- 6 Cadaver Tombs, 2 Ghoul Tombs, 2 Wraith Tombs * Notes- The Pallid Sons Cemetery * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- Strike Cruiser Pale Lord, ''Dominatra Squadron * Tombs- 6 Cadaver Tombs, 2 Ghoul Tombs, 2 Wraith Tombs * Notes- '''The Shambling Horde Cemetery' * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- None, other Cemeteries ferry them as needed * Tombs- 10 Cadaver Tombs * Notes- The Damned Parade Cemetery * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- None, other Cemeteries ferry them as needed * Tombs- 10 Cadaver Tombs * Notes- The Headsmen Cemetery * Commanders- Lord Executioner, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- None, other Cemeteries ferry them as necessary * Tombs- 10 Wraith Tombs * Notes- The Bloated Risen Cemetery * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- None, other Cemeteries ferry them as necessary * Tombs- 10 Ghoul Tombs * Notes- The Un-Fallen Cemetery * Commanders- Cemetery Lord, Cemetery Reaper, Cemetery Weaver, Alpha Warden * Vessels- None, other Cemeteries ferry them as necessary * Tombs- 10 Vulture Tombs * Notes- Gallery Dominus autem mors To'Vask.png|Dominus autem mors To'Vask, Chapter Master of the Necropolis Chapter Necropolis_Reaper.PNG|A Necropolis Reaper (Chaplain equivalent) Category:Zyphis T Category:Raven Guard Successors Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Unknown Founding